


These Bones Ache (Less When I'm with You)

by Arenhai



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Cuddle Puddle, I haven't written in months I'm rusty I'm sorry, Kinda, M/M, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24930574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arenhai/pseuds/Arenhai
Summary: It wasn't perfect, but it was enough.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	These Bones Ache (Less When I'm with You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ultraviolnce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolnce/gifts).



Gary was standing over the main console of the Crimson Light, looking at the different shapes and symbols and trying to make sense of the menagerie of colors. He had to plot a course for the ship, and pick up supplies on a nearby planet, and make sure the ship was in good repair, and make sure that there were no Infinity Guard bases located nearby. (There weren’t, but his tired eyes kept crossing over the different lines of data and rereading them to make sure. A captain’s responsibility, after all, is to keep the crew safe.) He was so focused on reading the data and leaning over his chair, that he didn’t hear the hydraulic hiss of the doors sliding open behind him. 

“What are you doing?”

Gary let out a shout of fear as his tired body tried to react to the question while his exhausted mind whirled in panic. The end result had his legs tangling with the chair and sending him crashing to the floor, head smacking against the hard metal ground and sending stars flying behind his eyes. He let out a groan of pain as he curled up, pressing his hands against his aching skull. 

There was a huffing chuckle above him, making him open his eyes to see the smiling ventrexian face hovering over his. 

Lil’Cato stared down at him, smiling even as he rubbed at his mused hair (and probably shattered head) as his eyes refocused on his son.

“Spidercat? What are you doing up? It’s…” He squinted his eyes to look at the timepiece on the wall, vision swimming momentarily before it focused.

_‘0500? Did I really stay up all night?’_

“It’s the normal time I get up, Dad and I practice in the morning before breakfast.” Lil’Cato scratched his ear, eyes bright and hair combed even at the ungodly hour in the morning. Gary’s tired brain struggled to process the information. Vaguely he remembers Avocato always being awake when he got up, but he never really thought about what his friend _‘ ~~Co-parent? Husband?'~~ _did in the mornings. 

Gary let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes, blinking in disbelief at his son. 

“You willingly get up this early?” He slowly stood and stretched, body protesting his movements after the prolonged period of stillness. Gary winced, and cracked his neck side to side to help loosen it up. With each pop of his bones, Lil’Cato flinched, until he was simultaneously grabbing at his ears and flailing his hands in his pops direction.

“Stop stop! What’s wrong with your bones!” Lil’Cato had heard his pops’ bones pop before, but never with as much intensity as they had this early morning. 

Gary raised an eyebrow in question at his son as he walked over and flopped down onto the couch, hiding another yawn behind his hand.

“Whh dya mmnn?” He tried to speak through the yawn, and the end result was slightly garbled nonsense that Lil’Cato none the less understood. 

“They shouldn’t sound like that! Are you dying? Did you hide another illness from us that eats your bones! I’m gonna get dad!” Before Gary could stop him, or even respond, Lil’Cato sprinted from the room and out the door.

“This, I’m-” He yawned again and reclined against the couch. “I’ll handle this later. It will probably be fine…” The couch never felt this soft before, like lying on a cloud. 

_‘I’ll just close my eyes for a couple minutes…’_

* * *

“DAD! POPS IS DYING!” Avocato shot up from his crouched position on the training deck, pulling up out of a stretch almost too fast for his body to react kindly too. He hid his discomfort and crossed the room quickly to his son, hands fluttering over his him, checking for any injuries, even as he asked.

“What do you mean?” His mind flashed with images of Gary hurt, or bleeding, or being shot and dying and he had just gotten **_his family back together-!_ **

“He was in the consol room and I surprised him and he moved and all of his bones sounded like they were shattering! Come on!” Lil’Cato reached out and grabbed him by the hands, tugging him the first few steps until they were both sprinting through the halls. 

They reached the main console room, barely out of breath even after the intense sprint. (It was thanks to their intense practice sessions that they were able to move that quickly without any fatigue) The door slowly slid open and Avocato’s eyes frantically searched around the room for his friend ~~_‘Mate? Co-parent? Best friend who adopted my son after I died and I love him and he saved my life?’_~~

He heard a quiet shuffling noise and looked down at the couch, the angle hiding a tuft of gravity-defying blond hair. Lil’Cato ran over, seconds ahead of his dad as he crouched in front of his pops.

“He's asleep?” Lil’Cato reached out to shake Gary awake, only stopping when Avocato reached out and held his hand, shaking his head.

Seeing Gary sleeping was… different now. In the past, seeing the man asleep was like being in the eye of a hurricane, knowing that endless energy and movement were waiting right around the corner, but at the moment, everything was still.

Now, watching him sleep was like watching a sunrise. Tranquil and peaceful, lines of stress Avocato didn’t even notice when the man was awake easing into smooth skin. The strain of captaining their ragtag crew not following him into his dreams. 

Avocato looked down at him, and felt warmth and affection flow through his veins like beams from the nearest star. A heat that was comforting and kind and felt like _home._

Avocato scooped up his son, ignoring his confused yelp and laid him down by Gary. He then walked over to the corner wall and pressed open a compartment, grabbing a blanket from it and returning. 

In his sleep Gary had rolled over, arms wrapping around their son and holding him tight against his chest. Lil’Cato’s eyes were slightly wet, and he nuzzled back into the embrace.

Avocato draped the blanket over the two of them, before squeezing his way onto the couch beside his son. It was a tight fit, and he hated having his back exposed, but the feeling of closeness and familial bonds was more than enough to ignore it. 

Lil’Cato turned his head and mouthed a silent question to his dad.

‘What about training? And Gary being sick?’ 

‘We’ll train later, and ask him about it when he wakes up.’ Lil’Cato nodded, pleased at the answer and burrowed beneath the like cover. Enjoying the warmth of being surrounded by his father’s.

Avocato pressed a light kiss to the top of his son’s head, and then another to Gary’s forehead. It was slightly too warm on the couch, and a little cramped, but it was safe and filled with his family. 

And it was enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for the beautifully talented Ultraviolnce, go check out their stories and their art! They're amazing at what they do, and they're a great friend in the final space fandom!


End file.
